MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): Thank you, President. Although many retail outlets will be able to provide “one bag for dual use” service, such service is still not applicable to markets and takeaway. May I ask the Government whether it will consider implementing “one bag for dual use” in markets and restaurants to let members of the public choose between DBs and ordinary shopping bags regardless of where they shop?
SECRETARY FOR ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY (in Cantonese): President, our DBs are already available in different sizes. As we all know, the one with the smallest capacity of 3 L is a tiny one similar to an ordinary small bread bag in size. Our DBs do come in different sizes to replace the ordinary plastic bags currently in use under different circumstances. It was also mentioned in the main reply that we hope to encourage the practice of “one bag for dual use”, in the hope that more shops or other retailers in the community will gradually get used to this practice, which I believe will definitely help reduce the usage of plastic bags at that time.
However, here I would like to point out that if you have brought home plastic bags bought or used elsewhere, you do not have to dispose of them as rubbish even if they cannot be used to wrap waste. If the plastic bags are clean, they can be put into recycling bins near your home or other recycling bins for recycling. In this way, the plastic bags will not be turned into rubbish, and this can also contribute to environmental protection. Thank you, President.